The fruit of the dog rose (Rosa Canina L. —Rosaceae) has been used for medical purposes for centuries. A rose hip weighs approximately 1.25-3.25 g of which approximately 70% (by weight) is flesh/pericarp, while approximately 30% is seeds. Rose hips were previously and are still mostly consumed as tea produced on the dried flesh, and was previously especially used against common cold. In the last 2 decades rose hips products have also been suggested as a herbal remedy to treat or alleviate arthritic symptoms and other inflammatory diseases and/or symptoms and other diseases/symptoms, e.g. obesity.
Osteoarthritis is characterized by an erosion of articulated cartilage which becomes soft, frayed and thinned with eburnation of subchcondral bone and outgrowths of marginal osteophytes. Pain and loss of function is the result. This is more common in older persons and is considered degenerative joint disease which mainly affects the weight bearing joints such as the hips and knees.
While inflammation is one symptom of arthritis, the pain and stiffness of the joints are particularly debilitating as this physically inhibits activity and lessens the motivation for daily activities, as well as causes sleeplessness, and results in an overall negative impact on the general well being of an individual, as one susceptible to such pain and joint stiffening must generally refrain from normal daily activities such as walking, entering a vehicle, etc.
Various rose hip formulations are known and have shown different levels of anti-inflammatory effects. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,960 A, a rose hip formulation based on the shells of rose hips for use as an anti-inflammatory natural medicine is described. The daily dose is 20-200 g of the rose hip powder, and preferably about 45 g rose hip powder.
In EP1337263 B1 it was shown that a daily administration of a rose hip concentrate based on the shells of rose hips and fish oil may be used to treat and/or alleviate the symptoms associated with joint diseases such as osteoarthritis, especially joint pain and joint stiffness.
In RU 2055483 A1 a composition containing ground seeds of rose hips in a mixture with starch and sulphur is disclosed as an additive for farm animals' feedstuff.
Wenzig et al. “Phytochemical composition and in vitro pharmacological activity of two Rose hip (Rosa Canina L.) preparations” Phytomedicine, vol. 15, 2008, p. 826-835 discloses an increased anti-inflammatory effect of an extract of rose hip flesh when compared to an extract of Rose hips including the seeds.
K. Winther et al.: “A powder made from seeds and shells of rose hip species (rosa canina) reduce symptoms of knee and hip osteoarthiritis: A randomized double blind placebo controlled clinical trial”, Scand J Rheumatol, 2005, 34, 302-308 describes a clinical trial of a rose hip product containing both rose hip shells and seeds, wherein the osteoarthritis patients are treated with a daily dose of 5 g of rose hip powder. One conclusion from the study indicates that the dose of 5 g of rose hip powder daily was not optimal, indicating that the effective daily dose in fact may be larger than 5 g rose hip powder.
Szentmihalyi et al.: “Rose hip (Rosa canina L.) oil obtained from rose hip seeds by different extraction methods”, Biores. Tech., 82, 2002, p. 195-201, describes different extraction methods for obtaining a rose hip seeds oil having a yield of 3.23 g oil per 100 g seeds to 6.68 g oil per 100 g seeds which may be useful for medical purposes.
Willich, S. N. et al: “Rose hip herbal remedy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis—a randomized controlled trial”, phytomedicine (2009), doi:10.1016/J. phymed. 2009.09.003 describes a clinical trial of a rose hip containing both rose hip shells and seeds, wherein the rheumatoid arthritis patients are treated with a daily dose of 5 g of rose hip powder similar to the above used product containing both rose hip shells and seeds.
In WO 03/043613 A1 compounds may be extracted by organic solvents and a bioguided fractionation procedure of rose hips shells. These extracts were shown to contain the highly active anti-inflammatory agent GOPO (which is a registered trademark). The action of this compound was shown to be alleviating chemiluminescence of polymorphnuclear leucocytes and chemotaxis of mononuclear leucocytes. An aqueous formulation containing the highly anti-inflammatory agent was suggested.
In WO 2008/003314 A1 another method of producing a concentrate, e.g. of GOPO, in particular from a rose hip material is disclosed.
In WO 2009/080778 A2 a composition having a low concentration of GOPO is based on an ethanolic extract of rose hip shells in combination with another chondroprotective product such as a collagen hydrolysate, glucosamine, and/or chondroitin sulphate.
The known rose hip containing compositions, concentrates or extracts are used in prophylaxis and or alleviating symptoms of inflammatory diseases, e.g. joint diseases such as arthritis and/or osteo arthritis.
The Rose hip seeds of Rosa Canina contain about 7% (by weight) of oils. This results in complicated and expensive methods for extracting the oils from the rose hip seeds having varying yields as disclosed in Szentmihalyi et al. Further, the extraction of the oils renders it likely that other active substances, especially substances being insoluble in oils, are excluded from the product. The oils present in the rose hip seeds, may contribute to the anti-inflammatory effect of the rose hip seeds but are unlikely to be entirely responsible for the anti-inflammatory effect of the rose hip seeds especially due to the relatively low content of the oils in the rose hip seeds.
Even though the known rose hip compositions may be useful as a natural anti-inflammatory ingredient during treatment of patients suffering from these diseases, the daily dose needed may be quite large, e.g. 45 g rose hip powder as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,960 A or 5 g (10 capsules) daily dose of rose hips as described by Winther et al and Willich et al. The patients will be likely to find the daily dose rather large, and may, in some instances, have problems swallowing this rather large amount of powder or capsules.
A consequence may be that the patient ceases to use the rose hip product because the effective daily dose is “too bulky”.
Thus, there is still a need for alternative Rose hip products, especially products which may increase the anti-inflammatory effect of the Rose hip compositions, or decrease the volume of the daily dose and/or which may lower the effective daily dose of rose hip needed to obtain an anti-inflammatory effect, in particular in alleviation of symptoms of joint diseases, such as arthritis and/or osteo arthritis.